The silicon shortage is more of a lack-of-infrastructure thing, and has something to do with using low-grade or slightly imperfect chip-grade silicon ingots for solar cells; it's been cheap to make the solar cells because of the use of flawed/waste materials from the chip makers, but now we're...
Thanks Globi5 - solar power I am very familiar with, and yes, this is a good solution for 8 months of the year. The remaining 4 comprise low-light levels due to our latitude, cloudiness in winter, v. cold, etc. Plus, I am interested in using wood or biomass pellets (this could be from...
Well, news to me! My brother works as an engineer for firms that revamp refineries, and this is basically what he told me!! He says that's really what it means - the refineries guess at what they can make, tell the government one number, and then usually fall short of that stated octane goal in...
Thanks Greg! Still lots of power to push at higher speeds..
Maybe if cars were shaped more like airplane fuselages, we'd have better mileage, and less pilot error? ;-)
Hmm.. Octane and cetane are opposites? To me, octane refers to a standard of a given fuel's reliable combustion point and evenness of burn when compared to a mix of chemically pure octane and air; I was under the impression cetane was merely a heavier fuel compound used in Diesel's for the same...
If the compression ratio is upped, then the octane rating needs to go up at some point as well, or you're liable to see some pre-ignition and ping. What you get at the pumps is actually an average octane fuel (if you're not aware of this, as I was once, you'll see a little note printed on the...
As you know, the engine has an efficiency curve and a power curve. The RPM where the peak efficiency occurs you would want to correlate with the highway speed you normally drive at to get the best highway mileage. This would take some testing on the dyno & comparing to recorded highway speeds...
Wood gassifiers work by passing combustion product gassses & pyrolysis products back through a hot bed of coals to generate the mixture of simple fuel gasses + "inert" gasses. The N2 comes with the atmosphere, and unless I use pure oxygen or some other process, will be there in the fuel stream...
Oh, thanks!
I didn't realize turbochargers reduced the exaust pop, but that does make sense! I could go with a conventional engine, and add a turbocharger - true. But the spit-cycle design looks easy enough to create from a modified engine, it is very tempting to try. And someone has to, or...
Thanks Globi5 & Mike!! Finally getting some time to take a look at the Swiss machine - got pretty busy with work for a while. It should be instructive to see how well their engine is holding out.
Mike, maybe you're right, but I have a hunch that engine durability issues can be addressed, and...
Wow, lots of responses!! :-))
Thanks everyone!!
Sterling or IC Engines? I'm leaning more towards internal combustion engines, as the efficiency of conversions is greater. Perhaps Sterling Cycle would be better due to reduced maintenance, but I'm hopeful that, here in 2007, we have the...
Hello Dicer!
Flue gas - well, more like reconstituted flue gas, I suppose! The gas coming off the hot wood is run through the red-hot coals, and gets broken down into Carbon Monoxide and Hydrogen, plus some other gases. Definitely, good filtration is a must!!
Yes, some maintenance - I...
Thanks Hemi, Malbeare, Dcasto, and Mishar!
Fuel composition : ( % by volume): 19%CO, 14%CO2, 17% H2, 2% CH4, and 48%N2. Basically, a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, with a little methane, and a lot of filler!
Production rate is dependent on gassifier size, and since the engine...
I am most interested in tackling engine cylinder and valve wear issues. How do you reduce wear in the head area? Also, would dual spark plugs per cylinder be of any benefit? I have taken a look at split-cycle engine designs, as they seem to offer some efficiency and wear benefits. Ideally, it...
